MS1 asking about step 1

[bravofleet4]

i've heard that our grades from the first 2 years don't really matter that much and since there's no way I'm going to be in the top 15% of my class (that dream is long gone), I thought I should just focus on getting as high a grade as I can on step 1 and put my classes as a secondary priortiy.

i say this b/c i've heard that my school actually does a poor job of preparing students for step 1. the vast majority pass but their scores are below the national average. since i expect to see a lot of the 2nd years selling their step 1 review books pretty soon I was wondering what you guys would recommend. don't get me wrong. i plan to study for my classes as usual but i would like to know which topics are high yield and if they're not covered in class at least i will know what i am missing.

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[fleetgoddess]

I'd guess that wouldn't hurt you. My school does way above average on the Step 1 exam so I def didn't do that. With that being said my friend in a DO school studied for a much longer time while taking classes and went through more question banks then I did and scored almost the same score as I did. So if you have time and thats what you want to do with it it should be fine. For me our classes were great prep though. I'd get a question bank as its more fun than reading first aid and better worth your time, but getting them for longer periods could probaby get expensive.

 

[Yope]

Maybe try gunner training. I've started it and find it's a good complement to coursework.

 

[mddoc1]

You can try Kaplan online prep i guess. It may help you with your classes as well.

 

[jl13]

1

 

[ButImLETired]

Get a 2009 or 2010 first aid (cheaper, and that's not what you'll use next year when you study for the real deal). At the end of each unit, before or after the exam when the info is fresh in your mind, review that chapter in FA. If you want, mark the stuff that wasn't covered in class- or just learn it fairly well. If you have a qbank or a book of questions, do the ones pertaining to that block if you have time.

Never, ever replace studying for your classes with studying for step 1 because you won't remember it a year and a half from now anyway and you don't want to fall behind in class. Use First Aid/ qbanks/ whatever as a companion to your studies so you can see how what you're learning can be tested later in the form of clinical vignettes, and so you know what info is "missing". Most of the time, they're not teaching you the wrong stuff at all, you're just not being tested in the right way.

 

[justaregularmed]

Just study, a good grasp of 1st year will allow you to actually understand HOW and WHY things work and not just a parrot of what first aid says which is the popular opinion of most of the people on this board and probably your classmates.

 

[TheSlyme]

How much more important are the 3rd and 4th year grades than ms1 and 2?

 

[WellWornLad]

How much more important are the 3rd and 4th year grades than ms1 and 2?

See fig. 2:

http://www.nrmp.org/data/programresultsbyspecialty2010v3.pdf

 

[ButImLETired]

Just study, a good grasp of 1st year will allow you to actually understand HOW and WHY things work and not just a parrot of what first aid says which is the popular opinion of most of the people on this board and probably your classmates.

I don't know if this was in reference to my post, but just in case...

I think there's a big difference between aiming to "parrot first aid" and becoming more aware of what Step 1 is like. Many schools don't have tests that are clinically inclined or that ask questions in the form of clinical vignettes. In many schools, professors often spend time teaching their own research which is neither Step 1-relevant nor clinically relevant. Whether we like it or not, the score we get on this one test may decide what specialties are open to us, so I don't think it's insane to think about it as a first year and at the very least know what kind of information will be tested. At worst, it is a review of what the OP is studying, and at best it gives him MORE info, not less. That might actually contribute to his understanding of how and why things work.

That being said, I didn't open first aid until recently and I'm taking Step 1 in 3 months. I don't think it's really affected me one way or the other, but I don't think it's fair for me to say that the OP has no right to inform himself a bit.

 

[justaregularmed]

I don't know if this was in reference to my post, but just in case...

I think there's a big difference between aiming to "parrot first aid" and becoming more aware of what Step 1 is like. Many schools don't have tests that are clinically inclined or that ask questions in the form of clinical vignettes. In many schools, professors often spend time teaching their own research which is neither Step 1-relevant nor clinically relevant. Whether we like it or not, the score we get on this one test may decide what specialties are open to us, so I don't think it's insane to think about it as a first year and at the very least know what kind of information will be tested. At worst, it is a review of what the OP is studying, and at best it gives him MORE info, not less. That might actually contribute to his understanding of how and why things work.

That being said, I didn't open first aid until recently and I'm taking Step 1 in 3 months. I don't think it's really affected me one way or the other, but I don't think it's fair for me to say that the OP has no right to inform himself a bit.

I dunno first aid just omits some basic 1st year material that you really just have to learn well the first time. I don't think it would hurt for him to follow along in it but I would not recommended studying it. If he is super paranoid about the USMLE starting in second year he should do a question bank along with his classes very aggressively and study first aid to put it all together while studying for his classes. So basically he has already studied first aid completely by the time he gets down to his dedicated study and he has completely finished a question bank as well. Mix in your review course, do some practice tests....how can you not kill it. But don't neglect second year either. It really wasn't in response to your post, just throwing that out there.

 

[ProtossCarrier]

I don't know if this was in reference to my post, but just in case...

I think there's a big difference between aiming to "parrot first aid" and becoming more aware of what Step 1 is like. Many schools don't have tests that are clinically inclined or that ask questions in the form of clinical vignettes. In many schools, professors often spend time teaching their own research which is neither Step 1-relevant nor clinically relevant. Whether we like it or not, the score we get on this one test may decide what specialties are open to us, so I don't think it's insane to think about it as a first year and at the very least know what kind of information will be tested. At worst, it is a review of what the OP is studying, and at best it gives him MORE info, not less. That might actually contribute to his understanding of how and why things work.

That being said, I didn't open first aid until recently and I'm taking Step 1 in 3 months. I don't think it's really affected me one way or the other, but I don't think it's fair for me to say that the OP has no right to inform himself a bit.

Not having a good foundation of first year classes make reading first aid impossible.

 

[ButImLETired]

Ok, apparently what I'm trying to say isn't obvious to people so I'll be really specific. OBVIOUSLY you should study for your classes. Let me repeat this in case it's unclear. Study what they tell you to study. You need to pass your classes. However, if you have a professor who went on some insane tangent for two hours about some random protein he studied for his PhD, it would be smart to maybe look at that first aid chapter after you're done studying so that you can integrate it with the actually useful info. If you notice there's something that was never even covered, you might want to mark it for later as it will be your first go through that particular material.

Once again, to clarify. Let's say that I'm in my anatomy class and we just finished doing the mediastinum. So let's say we've done heart and lung physio, too. I'm saying- IT MIGHT BE BENEFICIAL IF AND ONLY IF YOU'RE INTERESTED to go to First Aid and read the mediastinal anatomy and heart/lung physiology sections. If there's stuff that your professors never even mentioned, you MAY WANT TO skim it. Or not.

If that chapter of First Aid makes zero sense to you (extremely unlikely by the way, but I'll humor the most recent poster) despite the fact that you just did it in class, PLEASE review your class notes. Regardless, STUDY FOR YOUR TEST. If it's 2-3 days before your test and you are twiddling your thumbs, looking at that chapter as a basic review MIGHT BE USEFUL. Or not. Same for doing a question or two.

Believe it or not, there's a happy medium between becoming a Kaplan drone who can repeat First Aid word by word, and not knowing what Step 1 is until a month before the test. Again, there is nothing wrong with not even owning a First Aid until you absolutely have to (this was the case for me, btw) but if you really are interested in knowing what about your classes is Step 1-relevant, this is my advice.